Monday Made-It - Insect Inquiry Unit and More

It's July and I've finally got my summer *stuff* together enough to join Tara for a Monday Made-It!

First up, I did a little Fourth of July decorating.

The stars are from Target, the mirror is from Hobby Lobby, the Home Sweet Home sign is from Shopko, and I made the straw star.  I just tied three straws together with a clear wire and tied a red polka dot ribbon around the middle. 

Do you get those e-mails from Shutterfly with various free offers?

Well, I've gotten free labels, cards, and now I made a luggage tag!

No - I am not going to Vegas, but I do have a trip to Pittsburgh planned for the weekend.

The flowers were from a picture I took, and on the back of the luggage tag is another sunset photo I took, along with my name and address.

I only paid for shipping, which was about $5.00.

I was out of town in June when it was Makeover Madness week, so I caught up on a makeover today.

I used the website called pixabay.com to get the photo image (for free)!

This was my first TpT project, and it was due for an update.

The Insect Inquiry Unit includes a research project, bingo game, and related books and iPad apps.

It is only $3.00, and you can find it in my TpT store.

Head over to Tara's sight to check out all the Monday Made-Its!

Tuesday Tried It - Assignment Book Labels

Happy Tuesday!

I am again joining up with Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper for her Tried It Tuesday Linky. I have two quick items that I've tried that I wanted to share with you.

 

First, like many of you I have taken advantage of the specials that you can get at VistaPrint.  I have purchased two of those Groupon specials where you get $70 worth of products for like $17.  One of the items I created was sticker labels that my students could put right in their assignment notebooks to let the parents know what books they are reading. 

 

Sometimes my third graders are reading longer books that they transport back and forth to school.  The parents didn't always know which books were library books, and which were assigned books for literature circles/book clubs.

Sorry - bad photo

Using these labels helps keep parents in the loop and talking with their children about the books they've been reading.  I hope to tweak these labels with a different picture and adjust the lines this summer.

 

Also, I have created and used an Insect Inquiry Unit that includes the following items:

*Guidelines for implementing the unit

*Suggested Books and iPad Apps

*Family Letter

*Independent Study Project

*Scoring Rubric for Project

*Insect Observation Booklet

*Three Different Life Cycle Assessment Sheets

*Insect Partner Building Buddy Sheet

*Insect Poetry Template

*Insect Bingo Game w/10 Different Game Boards

*Suggested Unit Activities

 

It can be yours for a very reasonable $3.00!  Click here to find it on TpT!  Your kids will be bitten by the science bug!

 

Fiction Friday - Bugs! (And Another App)

It's Fiction Friday, and I am again joining my friend Amanda at The Teaching Thief for the latest installment of fantastic fiction reads.

My choice this week is  a fun one to read while studying insects. In this book Beetle McGrady longs to be an "explorer", and her first stab at exploring involves eating a bug!  The illustrations are colorful and exaggerated, and the book includes references to the eating of insects in various cultures.  We raised mealworms as a part of our insect unit in Science, and cookies made from mealworms were a part of the insect feast at the end - my students loved hearing about it!

I have posted an Insect Unit to my TPT store.  I have often started the school year with a very popular study of insects.  In my unit you will find:
                               Insect Observation  Booklet (An example is shown below)
                               Insect Bingo Game
                               Insect Poetry Template
                               Insect Study Project with a Scoring Rubric
                               Life Cycle Label and Draw Sheets
                               Suggested Unit Activities
                               Suggested Insect Books and Apps

 

One of the Apps listed in my unit is called wiseHopper.  In this App, the user selects a wisehopping insect that leaps among answers to math and language problems - hoping to cross what appears to be brook.  The basic version of this game is free and includes a variety of options.  Here is the basic menu page, in the next page the user is able to select an insect for the game.  The wiseHopper App with make for wise, happy students!